Can kick-starting damage my bike? Or does it take load off the battery in the cold?

[iridiumblue]

Hey scoot people!

As winter weather grips the American North-East, I got to wondering about an old habit of mine : I often kick-start the bike first thing in the morning, so the battery doesn't have to put in all that work.

But I see warnings on the web about how this can stress/break the variator or some such thing.

What say you, scooter tribe?